Hop on a call

An email I received yesterday contained the sentence “Would be happy to hop on a call to discuss should you change your mind.” The expression to hop on a call particularly caught my attention as it’s not one I’ve come across before. In this context I would have said “to give you a call”.

Have you come across this expression before? Do you use it yourself? If not, how do you refer to telephonic communication?

“Ring up” and “phone up” are also common expressions. I have only noticed ‘call up’ in common UK usage relatively recently (in the last 15 years, perhaps) and think of it as an Americanism – I probably encountered it before that in pop lyrics and American films.

“Hop on a call” is new to me. I imagine the sense to be something similar to “get on the phone (to)” – i.e. making a call with the sole intention of imparting or obtaining information, solving an administrative problem, conducting a business transaction etc., rather than making a casual social call.

I agree with John C, it definitely comes from the idea of joining a conference call. I could also see it being used when a famous person is being asked to “hop on a Google+ Hangout.” The usage you provided seems weird at first, but I think it makes sense.

The only other term that occurs to me is “horn,” as in “to be or get on the horn.”

I like the term “blower” but don’t use it. I have wondered where it comes from. Perhaps from the idea of blowing (hot) air, meaning to talk a lot, perhaps without significant content.

And of course, there is “landline.” I can’t remember what class of speech this is, but after radio/wireless telephony developed, “landline” came into use to distinguish the old wired telephony from the new-fangled wireless variety, “land” previously having been unnecessary. When mobile phones–a technology combining wireless AND landline–became popular in the late twentieth century, “wireless” came into general use to again distinguish between mobile phones and stationary phones.

One more thought: are all the synonyms for telephone that have been mentioned in this post so far used equally for both stationary and mobile phones?